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Don’t miss this Sunday at LCC. I will be interviewing 3 of our guys about what God has done in their lives. You’re going to hear from Russ, Randy & Bryant this Sunday. They each have unique stories that I know you’ll enjoy and I’m thinking they just might draw you closer in your relationship with God.

And don’t forget…the tasty treat of Milwaukee Frozen Custard after the service…a little ice cream party!

I haven’t worked this hard (physically) in awhile…and my body is feeling it…but it’s all good!

Josh and I have been working what seems like non-stop on the renovation of our new church office space.  It’s coming together incredibly well and fast.  I remarked to him as we were depositing a pile of trash in the dumpster before leaving this evening about how amazingly smooth this has gone.  His reply was a simple “it’s obvious that God has been in this.” No snags or glitches so far.  PTL!

Special THANKS to Kristie for all her help painting, cleaning, etc!  AWESOME!  (Thanks to her husband Donald for not painting :-))

Sunday was a torrential downpour outside…but we did have a great service on the inside.

One of the moms of a new LCC families shared the story of her 2 kids receiving Christ as Savior in the past few weeks.  They are looking forward to a family baptism in the near future…awesome stuff!

Still looking for a MINI-FRIDGE to be donated for the office space…anybody have one sitting around???

Mark down May 4th on your calendar - don’t miss being at LCC that day for LCC STORIES.  I’ll be interviewing 3 or 4 people and they’ll be sharing  their story of how God is working in incredible ways in their lives.  We’ll interweave some great music between the stories.  We’ll end the day with an ICE CREAM FELLOWSHIP…don’t miss it.

A final word - A HUGE THANKS to all who have given to the 1 of 100 Campaign.  The new office and meeting space is going to prove to be a great catalyst for growth for LCC.

Funny how life gets a little hectic and blogging becomes less important. I thought I better post soon before someone thinks I’m dying or depressed. I actually became concerned over a friend who stopped blogging for a few weeks…so let me try to prevent that.

• God answers prayer. It’s amazing over the last 2 years how when we as a church have gotten focused and specific we’ve seen God answer prayer. It’s not always everything we ask for at the time we want it…but in His timing…and His timing is always perfect.
• So, it looks likes we are finally getting our own professional OFFICE SPACE! We are pumped about this. 6 years of working out of my home has been convenient, but it’s time to take it up a notch. We found a great office space at truly a perfect location on Opitz Blvd for a great price. If all goes well we will sign a lease on Friday and take possession next week. We’re going to do some cleaning and painting before we move in. But it’s going to work great for us. It has 2 offices, 1 large meeting room which will work great for meetings, small bible studies, etc. and it has a large reception/work space area. 1,250 square feet altogether with 2 bathrooms. The timing is perfect with my wife and kids coming home from school a month later…and the baby coming before we know it. I’ll be posting more about the office space and the WISH LIST to furnish it. I know somethings already we’d like to get donated: a vaccuum, a fridge, a microwave…We just need a $5,000 giftcard to IKEA
• My wife is now 24 weeks pregnant…can’t believe it. He (his name will be Nicholas) is very active. Zac and I got to watch him kicking a few days ago…amazing! Sherri is a trooper…still teaching 1st grade and doing all the other mom stuff…pray for her strength!
• Anxious to get to the ball field tonight as my son’s team has it’s first game of the Spring season…Go Dodgers. Zac is the starting pitcher tonight…I’ll be coaching 3rd base…I love it…
• Last week’s service was great…we had a new drummer and he did a great job…way to go ALEX!
• I talked about LUST (David & Bathsheba). Amazing how much is out there (web, tv, etc) to pull us off the right path. Many men thanked me for talking openly about this subject. HEY - we are ALL dealing with this…let’s ADMIT it!
• Oh yea…my Baltimore Orioles are still in first place.
• It’s TAX FILING DAY…I did my own taxes and filed online around February 1st. I heard a radio guy today saying that our goal should be to have someone else do our taxes…why? Because that proves where you are in life…you own so many properties, have to many streams of income, etc, etc…to possibly be able to do your own Yea…that sounds nice!
• Today at 3 pm is our last staff meeting at Panera. Yea, Panera is nice…but seriously? No privacy, hard to hear, squished around the table…and NO WHITEBOARD!
• Speaking of Whiteboard…looking forward to the Whiteboard Sessions on May 22nd.
• Back to my series on Relationships from David’s life…this week I’m talking about the Dysfunction in his family due to his horrible parenting. Read 2 Samuel 13 and following…OUCH! and you think your family is messed up?

On Sunday, May 4th, we’re going to shake it up a little from the norm at LCC. We’ll be in between message series and we’re going to do a service of live testimonies mixed with awesome worship. We’ll end the day with an Ice Cream (Frozen Custard) Fellowship. It’s going to be a blast.

Here’s what I’m looking for…people to share their stories…how you came to know Christ, how God is presently working in your life and maybe even how LCC has helped you on your spiritual journey. These will be done in an interview format…sitting on a stool at a table with me. We’ll just be having a conversation with the congregation watching.

Interesting in volunteering? Even if it’s a bit out of your comfort zone, maybe God is telling you to step up and share. If so, send me an email: steve.markle@lifecc.us. I look forward to hearing from you!

Wow…forgot to do my Sunday night post…a busy, but great weekend!

• Sunday worship went great.  Convicting message on jealousy.  Music was great…the 2nd set was especially worshipful.
• Great news on the worship band…a drummer tried out Sunday and will be starting next week!
• 3 new families on Sunday…which always pumps me up.
• My 7-year daughter won our family’s March Madness competition…she’s got Kansas beating Memphis tonight.  She’s won the most games while watching least (which would be none).
• My Baltimore Orioles are in 1st place and 5-1.  I may not get many chances to write this…so I thought I’d better do it while possible.
• Our 1 of 100 Campaign is steadily moving along…but it’s time to finish what we started.  We’ve raised over $20,000 for this project…we’ve got about $9,000 to go.  Our goal is to get office space by this summer.  Read more here.
• Our youth missions trip roster is now complete…we’re taking 20 teens and adults to Maine this August.  Begin praying for them now and read more here.
• Interesting trend…more people are becoming e-givers…it’s almost 50/50 now…50% of our offerings coming in the Sunday collection and 50% online…pretty cool tool.  Check it out here.  It’s pretty easy to sign-up.

Starting my prep for this weeks message.  The topic is JEALOUSY.  Looking at the relationship between Saul and David.  I think this is a HUGE issue for all of us…especially pastors!  So I guess I’ll have probably have some extremely authentic illustrations this Sunday.  Should be a fun week…

LCC did a great job in response to the LCAC Food Drive. Thanks to all who gave!

Below is the email I received today:

Dear Pastor Steve:

We weighed in all of LifeCC’s donation and the grand total is: 603 LBS!!! That gives LCAC an additional $603 from our donor who will match every pound donated by one dollar.

Please pass on my deepest appreciation and may God bless your congregation!! Those who share their bounty will receive grace tenfold! And a special thank you to Rod for filling up our van with gas!!!

Karlene Webster

LCAC Nutrition Program Coordinator

9518 Richmond Hwy (behind Lorton Library)

Lorton, VA 22079

703-339-5161 x15

Today was a great day at LCC.  Funny how a day turns out.  Lots of twists and turns during the pre-game :-)  Light issues, sound issue, video issues…but in the end it was all good!

What truly made it a great day were the 2 baptisms at the end of the service…

Andrew - a 7 year old boy who gave his heart to Christ last week on Easter Sunday was baptized this morning.

Mike - a young single adult committed his life to Christ at the beginning of ‘08 after his dad had spent years praying for him to do so.

It was great to see Mike & Andrew commit their lives to Christ and make it public today…God is good!

We all have relationships struggles. When we are struggling with our spouse, kids, and co-workers, it brings a great deal of stress into our lives.

David who was one of the most well-known characters in the Bible had his share of relationships documented for us. Some of these relationships were healthy and some not so much. He was known as a man who had a passion for God…but as we look at David’s human relationships, we’ll find a man who struggled immensely.

Baptizing new believers  has to rank in my top 5 favorite pastoral duties.  I just love to see individuals boldly proclaiming that they believe in Jesus and are not ashamed to make it public.  This Sunday after the service is one of our scheduled baptisms.  If you have not yet registered and would like to be OR you want more information about what it means, click below.